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Pathways to Scientific Teaching, Chapter 4a of 7: Collaborative learning: a jigsaw

Reading and understanding primary research literature is a challenge for students as they can be intimidated by scientific jargon and the unfamiliar style of scientific prose (Epstein 1972; White 2001). It is, however, an important skill that should be developed well before they graduate. Students’ abilities to accomplish this are often underestimated, especially in the case of nonscience majors who are capable of reading the biological literature and of approaching it critically (Gillen et al. 2004). The paper by Fang et al. [attached] provides an example of how to bring primary literature into both large and small classes, using a cooperative learning strategy known as a “jigsaw”.
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Resource Group "Pathways to Scientific Teaching" is based on a series of two-page articles published in "Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment" from August 2004 to June 2006 that illustrated effective instructional methods to help students gain conceptual understanding in ecology (Diane Ebert-May and Janet Hodder, 2008).

This installment of the Pathways to Scientific Teaching series describes one or more instructional strategies that use scientific papers to teach selected concepts. While specific journal articles are used in demonstrating these strategies, we would like to emphasize that each activity in the Pathways series has been designed for use with any scientific article on a similar topic, and not just the example shown here.

Note that in addition to undergraduate faculty, many high school teachers can use these articles as well in their biology courses.
Resource Group Link http://ecoed.esa.org/index.php?P=AdvancedSearch&Q=Y&FK=%22Pathways+to+...
Primary or BEN resource type
Secondary resource type
Discipline Specific Core Concepts
Life science discipline (subject)
Keywords wetlands, remote sensing, jigsaw
Audience
Intended End User Role
Language
Educational Language
Pedagogical Use Category
Pedagogical Use Description Instructor goals: 1) Use jigsaw as a strategy for cooperative learning 2) Facilitate students’ understanding of complex material in scientific literature.

This installment of the Pathways to Scientific Teaching series describes one or more instructional strategies that use scientific papers to teach selected concepts. While specific journal articles are used in demonstrating these strategies, we would like to emphasize that each activity in the Pathways series has been designed for use with any scientific article on a similar topic, and not just the example shown here.

Note that in addition to undergraduate faculty, many high school teachers can use these articles as well in their biology courses.
Aggregation Level
Structure
Full Name of Primary Author Diane Ebert-May
Primary Author Controlled Name
Primary Author Affiliation Michigan State University
Primary Author email ebertmay@msu.edu
Secondary Author Name(s) Christopher Finelli 1 and Janet Hodder 3
Secondary Author Affiliation(s) 1 Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, 3 University of Oregon
Added By Id
  • Celia
Rights Copyright 2008, the Ecological Society of America
License
Publisher
Review type
Drought and Water Ecosystem Services Collection Off
Conservation Targets Under Global Change Collection Off
Big Data Collection Off
Editors Choice No
Resource Status
Date Of Record Submission 2011-12-05
I Agree to EcoEdDL's Copyright Policy & Terms of Use No
Date Of Record Release 2012-03-05 11:44:55
Last Modified By Id
  • mcmilla
Date Last Modified 2013-05-23 10:17:57
Release Flag Published

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